=The Reredos Arch.=--In the triforium stage over the entrances has Melchizedek on the north and Noah on the south. The High Priest, in a long robe, blesses Abraham, in armour and with sword at side. Eight figures of servants are behind; and so minute is the treatment that the loaves of bread in the basket are depicted. The original design of this is at South Kensington. Noah, with a rainbow offering as he came out of the Ark, faces; and both are suggested by the neighbouring altar. Above, the subject is the Sea giving up its Dead, and the words "Alleluia," "Sanctus."
The work in the =Apse= is difficult to describe. Above all, in the crown of the vault, is a sun with golden rays. The chief figure is Christ seated in judgment. The expression is of mingled firmness and pity; and the crown has thorns bursting into flower. The upper robe, fastened round the breast by a jewelled buckle, has red lining; and the long robe beneath is white. To the right are two angels with the Book of Life; and behind, two more holding crowns and inviting to come. On the left, two more hold the scroll of the rejected, and the angel of wrath, supported by weeping figures, holds out both hands to repudiate. The pilasters by the windows have representations of Hope, Fortitude, Charity, Truth, Chastity, and Justice.
But we have already exceeded our limit in describing this effort to carry out Wren's conception on a large and well-organised scale. Nothing approaching to it has ever been attempted in this country before; it is "a new art acquired, a new craft learnt." Had not the artist been constantly on the spot to see that his own thoughts were reproduced, the work must have suffered. Sir William Richmond may safely leave posterity to thank him. We notice with satisfaction that before his labours on the choir were quite finished, the Royal Academy co-opted him a full Academician, and the Crown bestowed a Knight Commandership of the Bath.[109]
For the sake of simplicity these are taken together. Not till some eighty years after the completion of the building was any monument placed in it: another instance of how the intentions of the architect were ignored. In 1795, John Bacon, R.A. (1740-1799), finished the Howard and Johnson statues, and that of Sir William Jones four years later. The Reynolds statue, by John Flaxman, R.A. (1755-1826), was added about the same time; and these four memorials occupy what Milman calls the four posts of honour in front of the great supports. Then came the wars not only with France, but in all parts of the world; and while some of these heroes by land and sea to whom monuments were erected are immortal, others are now so forgotten that even the date of their birth is difficult to obtain. Yet their general claim is that they were killed in the service of their country; and no one need grudge them this honour. I cannot but think that a certain amount of indiscriminate amateur criticism has been expended on the earlier works. Johnson is represented partially draped in a toga; and there is a sequence of nude or semi-nude Victories and Fames with or without wings. The taste of to-day has changed, and but few people approve of the typical design of the reign of George III. Yet it is necessary to state that besides four by Flaxman, six bear the imprints of the genius of Sir Francis Chantrey, R.A. (1782-1831), not to mention five by E.H. Bailey, R.A. (1788-1847), and six by Rossi. Not only were Flaxman and Chantrey artists and not mere masons, but examples of both Bacon and Bailey are among the very few sculptures in the National Gallery. The asterisk affixed to the number indicates that the remains slumber in the Crypt.